Mattie Miracle Walk 2023 was a $131,249 success!

Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation Promotional Video

Thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive!

Dear Mattie Blog Readers,

It means a great deal to us that you take the time to write to us and to share your thoughts, feelings, and reflections on Mattie's battle and death. Your messages are very meaningful to us and help support us through very challenging times. To you we are forever grateful. As my readers know, I promised to write the blog for a year after Mattie's death, which would mean that I could technically stop writing on September 9, 2010. However, at the moment, I feel like our journey with grief still needs to be processed and fortunately I have a willing support network still committed to reading. Therefore, the blog continues on. If I should find the need to stop writing, I assure you I will give you advanced notice. In the mean time, thank you for reading, thank you for having the courage to share this journey with us, and most importantly thank you for keeping Mattie's memory alive.


As Mattie would say, Ooga Booga (meaning, I LOVE YOU)! Vicki and Peter



The Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation celebrates its 7th anniversary!

The Mattie Miracle Cancer Foundation was created in the honor of Mattie.

We are a 501(c)(3) Public Charity. We are dedicated to increasing childhood cancer awareness, education, advocacy, research and psychosocial support services to children, their families and medical personnel. Children and their families will be supported throughout the cancer treatment journey, to ensure access to quality psychosocial and mental health care, and to enable children to cope with cancer so they can lead happy and productive lives. Please visit the website at: www.mattiemiracle.com and take some time to explore the site.

We have only gotten this far because of people like yourself, who have supported us through thick and thin. So thank you for your continued support and caring, and remember:

.... Let's Make the Miracle Happen and Stomp Out Childhood Cancer!

A Remembrance Video of Mattie

September 6, 2013

Friday, September 6, 2013

Friday, September 6, 2013

Tonight's picture was taken in September of 2008. I think this photo says it all! I was wiped out and Mattie was UP and had this impish grin on his face! In all reality there was just no way to keep Mattie down. Cancer, chemotherapy, and surgery tried very hard, but his spirit always came shining through. He was a miraculous little fellow.


Quote of the day: Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light. ~ BrenĂ© Brown


Linda, Mattie's Child Life Specialist, sent me this photo today! What is it of? It is a close up of Mattie's oak tree at his school. During our recent Foundation Walk in May, Linda had the kids in attendance decorate butterflies for Mattie's tree. A butterfly in honor and remembrance of Mattie! I knew that such an activity was taking place, but I can't think of a better time for her to display these finished butterfly products than during Mattie's fourth anniversary of his death. Somehow I suspect Linda planned this in advance. Needless to say, I am deeply touched by her thoughtfulness, caring, and compassionate nature. But then again, I am NOT at all surprised by her actions. I experienced Linda under the worst of circumstances. From day one, Mattie connected with Linda and he truly loved her. Linda understood Mattie and was an amazing advocate for our entire family. Without Linda, I would have absolutely cracked up. I love Linda for the skills she has, for the love she brings to her job, for going the extra mile with all her patients, and of course for loving my son. The love continues to be shown as is evidenced by these butterflies hanging on Mattie's tree!

This afternoon, I was invited to lunch by my friend and colleague. Denise and I met in graduate school and her daughter, Marisa assisted us with Mattie in the summer of 2009, after his cancer treatment was over. Of course Mattie wasn't home long that summer since his cancer spread everywhere only six weeks off of chemotherapy. Denise's entire family is well connected with us and they assist the Foundation in SO many different ways. They helped us in February when we went to Huntington Beach, CA for a National Conference in which we launched a psychosocial think tank, and they will be assisting us once again in February 2014, when we attend another national conference in Tampa, FL.

In so many ways, today's lunch was therapeutic. Denise and I openly talked about loss, grief, and trauma. Since Denise went through Mattie's battle with us and she is a daily blog reader, I didn't need to bring her up to speed on our story or my feelings. She is part of our Mattie community and has her own thoughts and emotions about the loss as well. Today's meeting was a gift. The gift of eating lunch outside (since today was a glorious weather day), having wonderful food (since I am motivated by food!), and most of all having the opportunity to talk honestly about the death of Mattie, the day he died, and the multiple losses that have occurred as a domino effect from losing a child to cancer. I threw a lot at Denise today, but she did not miss a beat. I think another gift she gave me besides of course listening (which is huge), was the gift of telling me how important the blog is. It isn't just important from a way to keep Mattie's memory alive, but it is important from a clinical sense. The blog can be turned to by mental health clinicians to get an up close and personal viewpoint of how to help a parent with grief. There were many aspects about today's lunch that will remain with me always and I learned that maybe I don't need a large gathering. Instead, meaningful one on one connections like I had with Denise today are key to coping with anniversaries.

As I mentioned last night, September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month. There are campaigns all over the country to encourage people to wear gold and also to light their homes up in YELLOW. In essence changing your current white light outside your home to a yellow light bulb in support of childhood cancer. In some places this YELLOW light campaign has really taken off. I received an email today from one of the childhood cancer coalitions that we follow and they gave us an update about the petition that citizens made to LIGHT the White House GOLD in the month of September. Needless to say the White House turns PINK in October, but they won't consider GOLD for September. Fascinating!!! You can read the link for yourself below.

Official The White House Response to Light the White House gold for the month of September to honor pediatric cancer fighters and bring light to the cause.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/fighting-pediatric-cancer

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